The Future is a Story We have Seen in our Past

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Seeing into the future is often just about plotting the graph line of changes we have already seen taking place.

Computer displays thirty years ago were just green text on black screens… Gradually we have seen increasing information density in our visual displays – with images, video and animations living alongside plain text.

The idea that we will adopt the next stage in this journey – immersive, 3D environments – seems inevitable.

I worked with Jon Brouchoud in 2005/6 on several early projects in Second Life – a 3D platform where the residents were able to design their own communities. Second Life generated a huge amount of fanfare at the time but never lived up to the commercial hype.

During its demise everyone mistook the platform for the trend. They thought that since the platform was suffering, so we would see the end of the trend of 3d immersive environments. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

I was delighted to see this little vignette from Jon all these years later. Jon has always amazed me with his commitment to immersive environments and how they can be used to reimagine the future – or take us back into the past. Here Jon is using Oculus Rift to bring his uncle back on board the Navy ship he served on over 60 years ago. Go Jon!

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About Joshua-Michéle Ross

I am a digital strategist focused on how technology opens new possibilities for social transformation and innovation within business. I am a Partner and Director of Digital, EMEA for Fleishman Hillard. I blog here, on O’Reilly Radar, and am a contributor for Forbes.com.